Alex Iwobi’s style is nicher than your average

The Fulham winger on covert fashion, Euros avoidance and getting stunty in South Korean label Solid HommeAlex Iwobi likes to start the day with what he calls his “dog fit.” When the Fulham winger isn’t on the pitch he’s out repping streetwear brands like Supreme – but only after he’s taken his huskies, Snow and Luna, to doggy daycare. “You can normally get four or five fits from me in a day,” he says. “But when I wake up in the morning to sort my dogs out, you could find me in absolutely anything.”

Iwobi has just touched down at Paris Fashion Week and it’s his second time attending the French capital’s chicest endurance test, this time on behalf of Solid Homme: the South Korean brand that’s popping off in the West. “It was a vibe,” he says of his first trip. “Seeing how people express themselves through clothes, that was an eye opener for me. You don’t really see that on a day-to-day basis but when you come to Paris Fashion Week, everyone’s bringing everything.”

Fashion week came at the right time for Iwobi as he’s taking a breather from football. Shock horror – he hasn’t been watching the Euros. “I’ve seen a few highlights but I haven’t been actively keeping up,” he says. “I’m just literally trying to take a break and enjoy [being] away from it.” But going from football to fashion might seem like a jump from the frying pan into the fire. “It’s two different worlds and I’m still learning. I’m enjoying it but, to be fair, the people on the team around me have made it smooth, so it’s not been too hectic on my side.”

As a kid, Iwobi used to cobble together outfits, turning to ‘00s denim classics like Levi’s and True Religion. “Some of those outfits would be wild and the colour coordination would be a bit crazy,” he says. He leaned into simpler styling in his teens but as an adult, he’s found himself returning to more adventurous fits. “In the past couple of years, especially after the last Paris Fashion Week, I’ve been a bit more daring. I’ve got colours in my hair now, which is a bit different from what I’d do when I was a kid, so I’m just exploring different things.”

It’s not just coloured hair. “I used to go for the LVs, the Pradas, but now I like to venture out and find undercover brands,” he says. “Brands that when you see it on people, you’re like, ‘oh, what is that?’. I try to look out for brands that aren’t mainstream and that no one pays attention to.”

“Dog fits” aside, Iwobi’s everyday style is most at home in a tracksuit or streetwear. “I’m wearing Supreme right now,” he says. “I’ve also been supporting a brand called Fall Forward, they do nice cargos.” And in terms of influences, Iwobi’s uncle, ex-footballer Jay-Jay Okocha, didn’t just inspire him to play – he also taught him what (not) to wear. “He used to try and dress a bit wild, so I thought, ‘I have to dress better than you when I’m older’,” he says. “He’d wear weird Gucci fits, so I used to look up to him but just to say, ‘I want to dress better than [you]!’”.

For his Paris Fashion Week, Alex Iwobi crowdsourced his fit with a stylist, then polled his mates: “We took a picture of each of the four outfits we put together and I got my friends to vote, to see which one is more ‘Paris’.” He initially gravitated towards one outfit that felt more like him, but in the end he opted for an outsized Solid Homme stone-grey suit: “It’s more ‘Paris’, it’s more daring, it’s what I want to try out.” He decided to pair it with a pair of white trainers. “Just to tone it down,” he says. “So I’m not too too smart, you know?”